Thoughts on Child #4's Birthday Celebration

I did not bake this cake. Or any cake, for that matter. Child #4 wanted a "real" cake this year. By which she meant "bought"!

We celebrated Child #4's 9th birthday with a makeover sleepover party!

Yes, yes, I So Don't Do Makeup opens with a makeover slumber party! It was a case of real life imitating art. Without the mystery part! :)


The girls patted an oatmeal + yogurt mask on their faces.

The girls soaked their cuticles in a honey + olive oil

The girls soaked their tired nine-year-old feet in aluminum lasagna pans filled with warm water + foot salts. Then they massaged their feet with a rubber foot and used silky lavender lotion + oil.

Of course, as the mother of the birthday girl and spa manager, I hung out a lot with the girls. And eavesdropped. Here are a few of the interesting things I overheard straight from the mouths .

"Boys have issues."
Spoken with much authority by one of the guests. She was explaining why Child #4's brothers were playing video games and not joining in on the spa fun.

"Girls, girls! My makeup's falling off!"
Shouted by one of the girls who had slapped on eye shadow and blush at 7 a.m., then promptly catapulted into the pool with the rest of the gang.

"I don't know why she put eyeshadow right up to her eyebrows. Are we supposed to do that?"
A question pondered by women around the world!

"Mrs. Summy, you know what would make me really happy? If you gave us cake for breakfast and then let me go on your treadmill. It would be like I hadn't eaten at all."
This last one actually bothered me. The girl who made the request is a cute, creative, chatty 9 year old girl of normal weight. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive about the eating thing because I'm reading Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, a YA dealing with anorexia. Or maybe 9 year olds should be thinking exercise=healthy not exercise=not gaining weight.

What do you guys think?